Stand Up, Look at Me, Count to Three
by Fire The Canon
Summary: Rose and Scorpius were friends, then lovers, and then friends again. But maybe old feelings never do disappear. Not really. For Last Ship Standing Competition.


_**Written for The Original Horcrux's Last Ship Standing competition. I am batting for team Scorose. I used the prompts: A character mus hug someone/something, crushed, "Stop it, please"**_

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**Stand Up, Count to Three, Look at Me**

Scorpius didn't know what compelled him to go for a walk at one o'clock in the morning. Everyone else was sound asleep, but he couldn't even close his eyes for a moment without his mind leading to something else.

It had started out as him thinking of the Halloween feast. He'd simply been thinking of the food. Then it had wandered to past Halloweens, and how this year had been different.

And then, finally, it had stopped on Rose. Rose Weasley; the beautiful, talented, kind, loving girl that he had kissed for the first time two years ago. The two of them had shared many happy moments roaming the castle together at night, sneaking into classrooms to see one another. They'd snogged at every chance, and gotten detentions for sneaking out.

Fifth year had been a good time for them, and he even thought that maybe he – if someone his age could – had loved her.

But after fifth year, things had changed.

She'd become more distant, wanted more space. She had begun spending more time with her friends than with him, and, one day, she just stopped talking to him altogether. Scorpius still had no idea what he had done. They'd spent the summer writing a letter to each other every day back then, and then one day, they were barely friends.

Two years on, and they were talking again, but she was now dating Bartley MacMillan – a man one year out of Hogwarts. What a charming man Bartley was, and Scorpius knew he was a good looking bloke. Gryffindor Quidditch captain, and now reserve Chaser for Puddlemere. He was muscular and attractive, and the girls pined after him.

It was just a shame that Rose Weasley had been the girl he chose.

He wandered through the silent corridor, his footsteps echoing along the way. No one would get him in trouble for being out of bed; he was a prefect.

He walked and walked, unaware of where he was going. It wasn't until a rush of cool air greeted him that he realised he was standing on the Astronomy tower. The place was ironic, he realised. It had been the place he and Rose had made love for the first time. It had been sweet and romantic, and a completely different time to now.

Back then, she had loved him.

He walked to where the giant telescope sat, placed in the centre. It was a full moon tonight and the sky was illuminated with stars. He glanced up, taking in the magical sight that had brought him there so many times.

He often came to the Astronomy tower. Most of those times were when he'd been with Rose (or thinking about her at least).

He stood there for a while, watching and wishing, staring and hoping. He'd been okay when Rose and he had broken up. It wasn't until he'd seen her holding hands with Bartley that had brought him to this state. It didn't make sense… it wasn't right. How could another person love Rose like he could? How was it even possible?

It wasn't until the clock struck two that he decided to go back to his dormitory. He had class the next day. He probably should get some sleep.

He shuffled slowly back to the staircase, and at the last minute, his foot brushed against a solid form. He let out a cry of fright when that solid form got to their feet.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"Scorpius?"

"Rosie?"

Now that his eyes had focused more, even in the dark he could recognise that beautiful red hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. She gave him a smile, but it was a pained smile.

She had been crying.

"Rosie, what's the matter?" he asked, concerned. It wasn't like Rose to cry. He hadn't seen her cry since first year.

She shook her head, looking down at her hands. She was holding something. The _Daily Prophet_.

"Tell me," Scorpius demanded. He took her arm gently and guided her to a chair on the tower. He Summoned another one for himself, and looked at her. They were sitting in the exact same spot as that time before. She seemed to realise as well.

She laughed slightly. "Oh, the irony," she said.

"Why are you crying, Rosie?" Scorpius wanted to know. "What is it?"

She looked down at the _Prophet_ again, and then passed it to him. It was open to the sports section, and a huge picture of Bartley was staring back at him.

_MacMillan makes side just in time for clash with the Harpies_, it read.

"Oh," he replied. "Well, send him my congratulations."

Rose shook her head, and pointed to a much smaller picture with a caption underneath.

_MacMillan with mysterious girl._

Scorpius squinted at the image and he realised that Bartley and the mysterious girl were joined at the lips. The image was dated three days ago.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Rose shrugged. "I suspected," she said. "I just didn't want to believe it. I thought he truly cared about me." She looked out to the sky, and laughed again. "It truly is ironic that we're here right now, and I'm telling you this."

Scorpius looked at her curiously. "How so?" he questioned.

Rose took a deep breath. "Because, Scorp, this is the place we slept together for the first time. This is _our_ spot, and we're here again." She took another breath. "And it's also ironic that you're finding out that Bartley has been cheating on me while we're here."

Scorpius was still confused. "Rosie, I don't understand."

"I never told you why I broke up with you," she said.

Scorpius shook his head. "You just stopped talking to me."

She nodded. "It was over the summer, we had a gathering, and… and Bartley was there. I was a foolish, young girl back then, and he said some things every girl wanted to here and, well, I kissed him. He wanted me to, of course. He'd been coming onto me for months before, but I never told you.

"And after it happened – it was just a kiss, I promise – I felt really guilty, but I couldn't tell you, so I just stopped talking. I hoped that mabye you'd break up with me, and it would take some of the guilt away." She looked at him, her eyes sad. "But it didn't. I'm sorry, Scorp," she said. "I truly did love you back then, but…."

"You loved him too?"

She shook her head. "I think I was more attracted to the fact that he, of all people was interested in me. Of course, he being a teenage boy, he was only interested in one thing."

"Then why did you start dating him for real?" Scorpius asked. His voice remained calm, but inside, it hurt. His heart ached at what she was telling him. Maybe he would have been better off not knowing that. Maybe it would have hurt less to know that she had just stopped loving him.

"I did eventually fall in love with him," she said. "I truly did. He was nice, he was gentle, and he was older. I loved him, Scorp, and I think he loved me too."

Scorpius shook his head. "If he did, he wouldn't be with that girl."

She smiled at him, and a tear trickled down her face. "I know that now," she said. "Our relationship was more sexual than anything, and, I guess the minute I go back to Hogwarts without him…."

"He's a git. He doesn't deserve you."

"Maybe he does," Rose said. "After all, I did the same to you."

"You were young, Rosie. We both were. We were kids… we still are."

More tears fell down Rose's cheek, and without thinking, Scorpius gathered her into his arms. "You're so much better than he is, Rosie. You always have been. He doesn't know what he's lost."

Rose wrapped her arms around him too, holding him tightly. "And maybe I didn't know what I've lost until now," she mumbled.

Scorpius broke away, and grey eyes stared into blue. She was so beautiful. He'd never stopped loving her. Not once.

"You've always been a good friend to me, Scorp. And you were a much better boyfriend. I love you." She brought her lips towards him, and Scorpius' heart pounded against his chest. No, he couldn't do this.

He swallowed. "Stop it, please," he begged just as he could taste her sweet scent. She'd spent that last thirteen months allowing another person to touch her, to kiss her. Scorpius had been the first, but he was no longer the only.

"Stop what?"

"I love you, Rosie. I always have. You're my best friend, and this wonderful, beautiful person, but I can't do this right now."

Understanding formed in her eyes. "I've hurt you too much," she said, averting her eyes. "I understand."

"I don't want to lose you," he said. "Maybe… maybe one day we can see if it works again, but for now… can we just be friends? At least until I'm certain that I won't just be some rebound from MacMillan."

Rose nodded, running her fingers along his cheek. "That sounds good," she said. She got up from the chair and cupped his face in her hands. She pressed her lips to his cheek. "I do love you, Scorp. So much. Maybe, in a way, Bartley was always just my rebound from you."

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_**Yay! Scorose. I'm actually really happy with the way this turned out. I wrote it in an hour :)**_

_**I hope you liked it too.**_


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